Training in Review

As we scramble to pack our necessary belongings for our two week journey to England, we have twenty-nine additional practices under our belts since our victory at Scholastic Nationals. Our Henley training started with seven days of much needed rest and relaxation...and oh yeah, the Graduation of six members of the crew. Unfortunately, all good things have to come to an end, and we were all rudely awakened by a 6:45 practice on the 1st of June.

Our practice schedule went mostly like this: Monday through Saturday from 7-9am and Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 5-7pm. Without going into too much detail so as to keep our training somewhat secretive, our mornings were very difficult and often consisted of racing in fours. To keep the level of competition high, all of us were switched or seat-raced multiple times making for some interesting inter boat competition. The afternoons consisted mostly drilling and rowing at lower ratings. For many of these practices, we used a speed coach which Coach Mandel installed in the Sr. Seton Cunneen that would inform us on a stroke by stroke basis of our speed and distance travelled. Much like the erg, the speed coach became our worst enemy as it forced us to stay intensely focused. Nonetheless, the speed coach hopefully helped us to pick up some additional boat speed.

Highlights have included being interviewed by The Current, and The Catholic Standard, and being filmed by Channel 7 News. The crew also did three race pieces with the Potomac Boat Club's fastest eight and came up victorious each time. And undoubtedly, our post-practice breakfasts at Booeymongers made the tough practices worthwhile.

We also got better at waking up early, as Coach Mandel even mentioned how much more awake we looked towards the end of the second week in comparison to the first morning practice. This can probably be attributed to the midday naps that most of the crew took on a daily basis.

Special thanks go out to Matt Thomas '11 and Phil Bates '12 for filling in for sick or absent rowers, and Matt Weider '10 and Jorge Galindo '11 for coxing several practices in the fours. And thanks again to all for your continued support. The crew has one more practice bright and early tomorrow morning, and the remaining members of the team will all board a flight for England tomorrow evening.